100% Electric Car Rally through Europe

The eTourEurope – 9 Capitals – 9 Days rally will take place for the first time from 18 to 26 May 2014. It will demonstrate impressively that modern electric cars in combination with existing charging infrastructure are also suitable for long distances. With an average day’s leg of 450 km and a total distance of more than 4,000 km eTourEurope is the most technically challenging electric car rally in Europe. It will at the same time connect the most important international pioneers of sustainable electric mobility. By means of rallies to the capitals eTourEurope wants to get more than 1,000 electric vehicles on the road. The roadshows in the European capitals will have an optimal impact on citizens, the media and politicians.

The Electric Cars and teams

The vehicles participating will range from the “TWIKE“ electric light vehicle, the Renault ZOE compact vehicle, the Tesla Model S luxury limousine, to the latest prototypes. Some of the drivers even reckon they have chances of beating the Tesla Model S in the electric car rally. The following categories will be judged: C1 two-wheelers, C2 vehicles with a range < 250 km (NEDC), C3 vehicles with battery change systems and CO the open category. The teams have to reach the day’s destination by a given time every evening. The teams decide for themselves when they set off in the morning, the route they take and where they recharge. The team with the shortest total time wins. Many of the participating drivers and co-drivers are attracted by the challenge to the most economical driving style the eTourEurope poses. Many of them also have the ambition to participate in the 1st eTourEurope as a pioneer. For the eTourEurope participants the “range anxiety“ often discussed in the media is “water under the bridge“. You can still register now for one of a total of 15 starting places.

eTourEurope wants to get more than 1000 EV’s in motion!

Our motto is: ”The EVs must get out of the show rooms and reach the people“. We invite all electric car drivers to come to the meeting point of the national rallies in the European capitals. We are already excited to see which country can mobilize the most participants. For example, drivers from the association www.Volttour.eu in Barcelona, Spain, have already announced that they will travel more than 900 km to our stage stop in Bern, Switzerland on electricity alone! We call on all EV drivers to join the eTourEurope movement and take part in the rally. Please plan your national approach so that you don’t block the public charging infrastructure along the rally route for competitors.
The eTourEurope wants to become by far the largest EV movement in the world with more than 1,000 EVs.

Charging infrastructure

During the stages the participants will recharge at existing, mainly public, charging stations. This will demonstrate that for many electric cars long distances already work well with the infrastructure available. By judging the charging station provider most used we will impressively demonstrate who already now offers the greatest coverage, in the right places, with the output required and high functional security. At the same time it will become clear where further expansion and consolidation are needed, and how important it is to have access which is practical and as uniform as possible.

Platform for eMobility

The eTourEurope is the platform for eMobility and meetings at an international level. The rally will get 1000 eVehicles in motion!. The manufacturers, the dealers and of course the associations, the providers of charging infrastructure and service providers will all exhibit their electric cars and offer test drives at roadshows at the stage stops.
Further financing partners are very welcome to use this unique platform to advertise successfully for their eProducts.
The eTourEurope is an open project which will be pleased to welcome all people and organizations, who recognize and wish to support the objectives of eTourEurope. Become an active part of the eTourEurope movement.

Technology

The very great challenge which the vehicles and teams of eTourEurope will face calls on service providers and technology start-ups to adapt their products. The start-up “www.Greenspider.eu“ for example, will provide its tracking technology for every vehicle, to record their position and speed at any time. In everyday life this technology is used to manage electric car-sharing fleets. The charging infrastructure database “www.LEMnet.org“ makes finding the correct charging station possible – partly even supported by online status, route planning and navigation. The planned combination of the two technologies will give participants added value, and help them complete the stages safely and faster. At the same time the online visualization will enable the public to follow the rally easily.

About the electric car pioneer Werner Hillebrand-Hansen

I am the organizer of www.eRUDA.de – the largest EV tour in Germany with 105 electric vehicles participating in 2013. To demonstrate its long-distance suitability Martin Hillebrand and I made the record-breaking German 24-hour road trip of 1054 km from Flensburg to Füssen this year. To the EVS 27 in Barcelona I drove 1362 km in two days from Munich to Barcelona through five countries with Annette Schwabenhaus in a Renault ZOE. The reliability of the EV and the existing charging infrastructure were most impressive. I discovered my own personal enthusiasm of e-mobility in 1990 when I converted a Vespa Ape into a solar mobile and took part in the Tour de Sol in Switzerland. At the same time I became the founding Chairman of the association Sonnenkraft Freising e.V. I have been haunted by renewable energy and sustainable mobility ever since.

Every day I am inspired anew by the extraordinary people I meet and with whom I have the privilege to work.